1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for handling network element timeouts in a packet-switched communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet networks and circuit-switched networks. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Exemplary packet networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) network.
In a VOIP network, service logic for processing calls in real time is often accessed by servers with backend data stores. The service logic may include, for example, personal preferences of users, such as instructions and preferences for routing calls. The servers and backend data stores are typically configured with fixed timeout parameters in an attempt to process calls in the most efficient manner possible. Occasionally, packet delays in the transport network will cause interactions between the servers and data stores to be prolonged, causing timeouts. Such timeouts in turn cause the network to drop calls. In some cases, the packet delays in the transport network are only intermittent or do not otherwise provide for excessive delay in call processing. Since the servers and data stores are configured with fixed timeout parameters, however, such network elements nevertheless timeout thereby causing more calls to be dropped than necessary. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an improved method and apparatus for handling network element timeouts in a packet-switched communication network.